German PCB market: sales decline slowed in May 2009

The turnover of the German PCB manufacturers in May - compared to April - decreased by 4.2%, reported the Association of the PCB industry and the ZVEI Association Electronic Components and Systems.

Compared to the extraordinary results in May 2008 - the turnover decreased by 42%; the cumulative sales figure stood at minus 40% for the first five months (compared to the same period last year). All companies were affected by the downturn in the same way.
The order intake increased by 16% (compared to April 2009), largely due to special orders coming in. Compared to May 2008 figures, order intake was almost 38% lower. The cumulative figures for this year's order intake was almost half of last year's figures.
Due to the described imbalance in orders and sales, the May Book-to-Bill-Ratio stood at 0.98. However, it has to be noted that this value does not reflect a trend reversal in any way.
Staff numbers continue to decline. Due to restructuring measures over 20% of all jobs were lost since the beginning of the year. As many layoffs will be implemented (those layoffs have already been announced) over the next few months, this figure will continue to decline.